This definition originally excluded the applied or decorative arts, and the products of what were regarded as crafts. In contemporary practice these distinctions and restrictions have become essentially meaningless, as the concept or intention of the artist is given primacy, regardless of the means through which this is expressed.

American Craft celebrates the age-old human impulse to make things by hand, in order to communicate, learn, heal and connect.

At Amapola Gallery, we take everything into consideration and then we make the following decision: we like to think, we believe, that all our art is very fine indeed.

So, whether you consider yourself an artisan or a craftsman, bring the fine art, fine craft debate to Old Town Albuquerque and visit Amapola Gallery.

(After a lifetime batting words around like shuttlecocks in an endless game of badminton, it is a pleasure to use them to promote Old Town and my fellow artists at Amapola Gallery. –Kristin Parrott, carver, painter, acorn stuffer)

A tour of Amapola Gallery, a cooperative art gallery, begins with the cheerful courtyard. This, or the lounge or the lounge downstairs, complete with free wi-fi, are restful places to enjoy your frozen yogurt, coffee and soft drinks from Yay Yogurt, our downstairs neighbor.

While downstairs, you can tour the eight-piece display of wall art and the selection of smaller pieces in the display case in the downstairs hallway.

Fortified and rested, you climb our stairs. At the landing, you may go straight ahead, right or left.We have the whole second story. See why you needed to be fed, watered and rested? With works by 40 local artists, this will take some time.

Amapola is laid out in a circle, with the stairs in the center and one large room sticking out to the west. The west room is the straight-ahead one when you’re poised on the landing.

The work of 16 artists is here and it is a co-op of art choices: on walls, in windows, on raised display areas, in glass towers. We also have an area for miniature paintings and two mat bins with unframed originals and reproductions – easy to travel home with on the plane for you travelers.

Moving counter clockwise, you enter the room with our sales desk. Come say hi. There are always two local artists working. In this room are 10 display areas and a mat bin, plus our “Featured Artist” display and a section devoted to an enormous variety of notecards, many individually handmade. The Featured Artist display showcases special works by three or four artists each month. It’s well worth a look.

The little room that comes next has two wall displays and a mug rack as well as the doorway to our balcony. You can get a wonderful photo of San Felipe de Neri Church from here, and of the Old Town Plaza itself.

Next, Room D, with eight displays plus a bin for matted work, followed by a single display area currently showing fabulous hand-knit and felted wood hats, handbags and wall pieces.

Our last room has four displays plus a permanent display of quilts and quilted potholders, placemats, pillowslips and macrame plant and wine holders.

You’ve now come full circle, back to our stairs. If you’ve climbed them once, we hope you’ll come again and again. Our artists are always changing out pieces, and every three months all our artists’ displays rotate to a different part of Amapola. That’s part of our cooperative art gallery system.

(After a lifetime batting words around like shuttlecocks in an endless game of badminton, it is a pleasure to use them to promote Old Town and my fellow artists at Amapola Gallery. –Kristin Parrott, carver, painter, acorn stuffer)

Webster’s online dictionarydefines jewel as an ornament of precious metal often set with stones or decorated with enamel and worn as an accessory of dress. Amapola is resplendent with many varied jewels and they come with a wide variety of prices, from trinket to “Darling, you shouldn’t have!”

Jack Boglioli is a weaver of wire and wonders. Think of a weaver of miniatures using not straw or grass, but precious metal as his material. Jack shifts back and forth between faceted and uncut semi-previous and precious stones, and enjoys the challenge of setting stones in different ways, all using woven wire. Like all Amapola jewelers, Jack welcomes custom work and each piece is as unique as the stones themselves.

Brenda Bowman of Brenda’s Jewels creates fun, classy, everyday wearable pieces. For her work, her “heart is not into glass,” so she focuses on semi-precious stone and metal beads, with a nifty sideline in pearls. She loves peoples’ responses to her work, including her “word” bracelets with letter beads. She makes these using any colors and letters, including commissions of names, team names, causes and endearments, and even dogs’ names!

Joyce of Joyance began her beading career in 1982 when she bought a jade necklace on a visit to Hong Kong. Back home in Zurich it broke and the jeweler who restrung it charged her double the price of the whole necklace! When it broke again in a few weeks, she taught herself a variety of beading techniques and never looked back. Joyce’s designs are marvels of understated elegance.

Diana Kirkpatrick considers her work “wearable art.” In addition to beadweaving she fabricates a variety of earrings, necklaces and bracelets. She enjoys watching the design develop, with “suggestions” from the materials themselves. While she loves the colors and qualities of gemstones, use of Swarovski crystals in some pieces allows her to broaden her customer base.

Mary Ellen Merrigan employs an enormous variety of materials in her beading. She loves to use sterling, gemstones and vintage African trade beads, but since folks need affordable options, she also chooses to mix copper beads into some pieces. Words to describe her work are inventive, imaginative and whimsical. She especially enjoys commissions for treasure necklaces, combining her beads and artistry with customers’ old charms, too-small-to-wear-now-rings and other precious bits for truly personal, wearable art.

Michele McMillan is a gifted silversmith who both casts and fabricates her pieces. After only five years as a designer/silversmith, she creates a variety of organic and contemporary unique pieces. Michele is attracted to the unusual and different in the stones she uses and overall designs often grow out of the stones themselves. She enjoys award-winning outcomes, but loves the process.

Come see our jewelry and meet our jewelers! Compare and contrast for yourselves, but be prepared to find an ornament you cannot live without.

(After a lifetime batting words around like shuttlecocks in an endless game of badminton, it is a pleasure to use them to promote Old Town and my fellow artists at Amapola Gallery. –Kristin Parrott, carver, painter, acorn stuffer)

May’s featured artist theme is “Green Glimpses” as suggested by the emerald, a stone to bring harmony in all areas of one’s life. Read more about The Patrician Emerald, one of the great emeraldsin the world.

When asked, “What’s happening at Amapola Gallery this month?” it is advisable for promotional purposes to be able to say more than, “just our usual fabulousness.” Which, while true, is a trifle vague.

A cooperative art gallery, we have developed the featured artist system. Each month three or four pre-selected members exhibit examples of their work, a mix of wall art and fine crafts, in a special area. Each featured artist show opens on the first of the month, runs through the entire month, and includes a reception for the public on the first Sunday each month.

Every late autumn our special displays maven racks her brain, pairing up various artists and devising themes for the following year’s displays. After 35 years of this effort, coming up with new ideas is a real challenge: how to keep you interested and coming back for more?

The 2015 theme is “Gems for the Year.” April’s gem, for example, is the diamond, and ‘Crystal Clouds,’ the show title. It features raku ‘(ceramic clocks, oil paintings and art glass.

These two themes will be followed by pearl, ruby, peridot, sapphire, opal and citrine. December is always reserved for our ‘Celebrate Amapola’ all-member show.

For those of you interested in the metaphysical properties of stones, check out our crystal-stuffed acorns, or the wonderful and varied stonework of our six gifted jewelers.

To receive timely reminders of all our gallery events, follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our email list. Will you follow the happenings of our cooperative art gallery and learn more about each of our featured artists?

As an artist, there are two ways to look at Leonardo do Vinci (Leo from the ‘hood.) First, why bother? He did it all, only better. Why do I think I can be an artist? Second, looking at the vast expanse of artistic possibility showcased by him, let’s say we want to be a part of that! Leonardo had passion and drive. He absorbed technique like a sponge. He showed us how much is possible if we will actualize and validate our own inspirations. Centuries later, we remember his name, value his work, and aspire to be worthy of the dream of being an artist. Wow! Happy Birthday Leonardo da Vinci! It’s an honor to stumble in your footsteps!

After a lifetime batting words around like shuttlecocks in an endless game of badminton, it is a pleasure to use them to promote Old Town and my fellow artists at Amapola Gallery. –Kristin Parrott, carver, painter and acorn stuffer

Amapola Gallery is a cooperative. This means we all split the rent, pay a small percentage of our sales (as opposed to the 50-60% commission from a regular gallery) and take turns manning – and womanning – the store.

But the whole purpose of the exercise, and with our stairs I use that term advisedly, is to to please you. (NOTE: See About Those Stairs.)

Without you we would gradually wither away. We need your enthusiasm and appreciation, and we need your disposable income!

In return we provide: a one-of-a-kind souvenir of your trip to Albuquerque or New Mexico; the perfect piece of art for your home of office; an assortment of gifts for any occasion, large or small, from a handmade note-card to a designer pendant for your sweetie; or a divine indulgence for you alone, just because.*

We provide you with items you can find nowhere else and which will be loved for a lifetime, and you give us hardworking local folks with a variety of songs the means to keep singing. What an opportunity!

Come on up and visit! We’re here 10am to 5pm each day of the year except Christmas, New Year’s, Easter and Thanksgiving.

As you might imagine, we can’t begin to show the work of each artist. These pictures don’t even get through the exhibits in one complete room. Our displays include the entire second floor at historic Romero House. We rotate displays regularly, so if you’ve been to the gallery before, you’ll likely be surprised with new artists and fresh products from old favorites.

Amapola Gallery is an oasis of artfulness but you have to earn your access by ascending our stairs. (It’s a disadvantage to being in an historic building, the Romero House, currently in its hundredth year.)Read more about the Romero House.

If your companions lack your enthusiasm, or your stair-climbing ability, there is a solution. The earthbound can enjoy the amenities of our downstairs neighbor, Yay Yogurt, along with comfy chairs, free wi-fi and an assortment of refreshments.

Sandra Moeneh (rhymes with ‘lunch’) began working with ceramics in 1975. While pursuing a career as a medical technician at Ft. Defiance and Santa Fe’s Indian Hospital, she absorbed, and adopted as her own, the symbolism and feeling of Native American ceramics.

For the last 20 years, Sandra has been able to focus on ceramics, producing platters, pitchers, mugs and bowls, and a variety of decorative tableware. Works with her cream glaze employ dragonfly and butterfly symbolism.

Other glazes are used with her geometric designs. All her work is microwave and dishwasher safe.

With three such talented and assorted artists as new guest members at Amapola, everything old – 35 years in business – is fresh for Spring. Come see!

Amapola Gallery is a “Don’t Miss Destination” in Albuquerque. The cooperative, home to more than 40 local artists, is open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm.

An artists cooperative of approximately 40 artists, is one of Albuquerque's most exciting galleries. Located in the Old Town section of Albuquerque, Amapola houses an eclectic collection of contemporary art and crafts. Its artists interpret the modern southwest, being ever mindful of the area's rich cultural heritage and its natural beauty.
All artwork subject to availability and prior sale; please inquire by phone or e-mail.
No image may be copied, downloaded, or reproduced without the express written consent of the artist.